Such a method consists in bringing the article into contact with a multilayer structure having one or more transferrable layers carried by a backing layer, and in applying pressure and heat locally to the structure by means of a gilding iron.
European patent application EP-A-0 668 332 refers to that method in its introduction.
In a later step, the layers transferred onto the article are usually covered in varnish in order to protect the decoration from abrasion.
It is difficult to deposit the varnish exactly on the decoration without spreading any varnish over the article, such that as a general rule the varnish is also present around the decoration, and that can be a drawback from the point of view of appearance.